1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a method for monitoring the functionality of an electronic data processing (EDP) system that is monitored in portions thereof by respectively associated agents that are designed to evaluate errors and to send error messages.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An EDP system typically has a number of components that interact with one another such that the overall system fulfills the relevant requirements in as optimal a design as possible. A number of servers as well as a number of workstations or job-specific specialized modules, that exhibit local intelligence and that obtain their data centrally from the server and store data, typically are among the components, in particular in a network.
Entire or partial processes to be executed can be associated in terms of resources with a server, an individual workstation or module or even a cluster of computers belonging to a network, with the task distribution of the processes to the components typically ensuring under consideration of the respective computing expenditure in relation to the available processing time. During the operation of the EDP system, the control of the processes and their workflows as well as the introduction and monitoring of measures that are necessary for a proper course of the execution of the posted tasks are normally subject to an operating system with associated organization programs.
This operating system and/or the organization programs associated therewith as well as (if needed) individual components or modules with associated monitoring mechanisms that, among other things, check functional capabilities and report determined malfunctions in real time, are provided for high operational security and reliability of the EDP system. Specialized modules or program workflows (designated as agents) can be used in the framework of such monitoring mechanisms, these modules or program workflows being configured for the requirements that are relevant for the monitoring and control in a specific process workflow.
The reliable communication of such error messages, as well as the introduction of possible reactions or countermeasures, are essential to the operation management in complex systems. By contrast, if the reports of the agents about possible malfunctions cannot be transmitted, important information for assessment of the functionality of the total system is missing to the operating system and/or the organization programs associated with it. In such a case the system or programs are not able to administer and/or to control the EDP system as required. A failure of such agents thus can significantly detrimentally affect the operating security and reliability of the entire EDP system.